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Post 342 works with schedule

The initial American Legion baseball calendar called for St. Charles Post 342 to play at home against Lake in the Hills on Thursday night before hosting Northbrook in a Sunday doubleheader.

That did not go according to plan.

In the first instance, the visitors called to say they couldn’t field a full team and weren’t coming.

In the second, a late conflict put the diamonds at both St. Charles high schools out of play.

Midsummer scheduling nightmares occasionally occur this time of year, and the trend could continue next week when the Legion district tournament overlaps with the high school Phil Lawler Summer Classic.

“We’ve got a great group of kids and they just want to play baseball,” Post 342 assistant coach Greg Kowalski said. “They know sometimes things happen and they have to be flexible.”

Once the regular season concludes Sunday – when St. Charles travels to Loyola Academy for its twin bill – Post 342 will be the second seed in the district tournament.

St. Charles (20-7-1) went 6-1-1 in conference play. Elgin Post 57, which was 7-1 in the conference, is the top seed.

Kowalski said a few players – including St. Charles North’s Jack Dennis, Luke Johansmeier and Mitch Hurst – will continue pulling double duty next week, suiting up both for their high school teams in the postseason Lawler tournament as well as for Post 342.

St. Charles East could become a rather familiar setting for the trio, as it also hosts a Lawler regional.

Along with its current high school players, St. Charles is stocked with several recent graduates who have played an equally vital role in this summer’s surge.

“As our record shows, we’ve got a pretty talented team,” Kowalski said, “so it’s just a matter of keeping them around to play.”

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